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National Review, Oct 12, 1998 by Eric Felten
The other impediment to an upsurge of swing is a frequent absence of musical judgment. Though jazz musicians may err in deifying virtuosity, the neo-swing movement is much too tolerant of slipshod musicianship. The Brian Setzer Orchestra is typical. It boasts the most professional musicians of the new swing groups, but it lacks much in the way of musicality. Setzer's remake of "Jump, Jive, and Wail" is especially telling. Louis Prima's original version rollicks back and forth between a tightly controlled boogie-shuffle and a dionysian riot. There are dynamics; there is variation: the stuff of which musical interest is made. Not so the Setzer band's take on the tune, which has a Spinal Tap approach: it goes to eleven.
If the ironic distance is discarded and the musicians head to the woodshed to practice, there are some grounds for hoping that neo-swing might actually put a dent in what Frank Sinatra called "the martial music of every sideburned delinquent on the face of the earth." Jazz musicians have been arguing for years that Thirties and Forties swing should be known as "America's classical music." How much better if it were simply known as popular music.
Mr. Felten, a Washington writer and jazz musician, has just finished his first novel. His swing band, the Eric Felten Orchestra, can be seen on the BETonJAZZ network.
COPYRIGHT 1998 National Review, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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